Excerpt
There were times when he sat silently, imagining that he had
finished his schooling, that he had received his diploma, and that he
would soon be on his way home. His dream carried him to the happiest
moments of seeing his family again at the airport after such a
long time. He clung to the dream as if his life depended on it.
During this period, he also found the time to gather the information
requested by the dean from the school back home. He put
together a small report about the ins and outs of the Vancouver Stock
Exchange for the dean and mailed it to him. The dean wrote back to
him and expressed his appreciation, and from then on, they kept in
regular contact. The dean didn’t hesitate to mention to him that his
job was waiting for him when he came back and that things were
slowly improving back home.
Time never stayed still, and his examination time finally came.
Hermes did his best to prepare for the battle. He felt like a soldier
marching off to war, just like those he saw in films, though he knew
he was more prepared than ever and was quite certain of his results.
He had tremendous decisiveness and optimism, just as he had shown
in all other exams up to now.
The first exam day came, and he got up early, bathed, shaved,
dressed, and went to his classroom as early as possible. He believed
that if the first day of exams went well, all others to follow would be
just as successful. Then the supervisors arrived and distributed the
exams. Hermes started to work with patience. The supervisors walked
around; one of them passed by Hermes and stood for a while to look
at the work he had finished so far. Then, without any comment, the
supervisor continued, but not before Hermes had distinguished, with
his observant eye, a faint smile of satisfaction on the man’s face.
When done, he handed his paper to the professor at the desk,
who said, “Thank you, Hermes. Have a good day.”
“Good day to you, too, Professor,” he said and walked outside.
The rest of Hermes’ exams passed in the same manner. All he
had to do now was to wait for the results. He knew how to judge his
work objectively, no different from the way his teachers did…
